Tony Bennett, the revered and ageless artist whose love for classic American songs and talent for creating new standards like “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced an illustrious career spanning decades, passed away on Friday at the age of 96. Just two weeks short of his birthday, Bennett peacefully passed away in his hometown of New York, as confirmed by his publicist Sylvia Weiner. While no specific cause of death was mentioned, Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016. As the last of the great saloon singers from the mid-20th century, Bennett often expressed his lifelong ambition of building a legendary repertoire rather than churning out hit records. Throughout his career, he released over 70 albums, earning him 19 competitive Grammys, with the majority received after he turned 60, and gained a devoted and enduring fan base comprised of both fans and fellow artists.
Bennett possessed a unique approach to storytelling through his musical performances. Instead of telling his own story, he allowed the music to do the talking, beautifully interpreting the works of iconic songwriters like Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern. Unlike his friend and mentor Frank Sinatra, Bennett chose to interpret songs rather than embody them. While his singing and public life may not have encompassed the high drama associated with Sinatra, Bennett captivated audiences with his relaxed, courtly demeanor, and a remarkably rich and enduring voice that he described as “a tenor who sings like a baritone.” He had the ability to skillfully caress a ballad or infuse an up-tempo number with brightness. In a 2006 interview, Bennett expressed his enjoyment of entertaining audiences and helping them forget their problems. He believed in the power of sincerity, honesty, and a touch of humor to touch people’s hearts.
Bennett received frequent praise from his contemporaries, but perhaps none more meaningful than Frank Sinatra’s words in a 1965 Life magazine interview: “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He’s the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more.” Bennett not only survived the rise of rock music but thrived, gaining new fans and collaborators, some of whom were young enough to be his grandchildren. At the age of 88, in 2014, Bennett broke his own record as the oldest living performer to achieve a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with “Cheek to Cheek,” his duet project with Lady Gaga. Three years earlier, he topped the charts with “Duets II,” featuring contemporary stars like Gaga, Carrie Underwood, and the late Amy Winehouse in her final studio recording. (Read more Tony Bennett stories.)
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